Teresa San Miguel

Monitoring of the action of drugs in melanoma cells by dynamic laser speckle.

Abstract. This work presents the development of a protocol based on the dynamic laser speckle designed to monitor the reaction of cancer cells of line MEL-RC08 to the application of the drug Colcemid in two different concentrations: 0.2 and 0.4  μg/mL. The protocol was designed using the forward scattering approach with an He-Ne laser of 632.8 nm illuminating the samples, a control, and two variations of Colcemid, being monitored along 8 h. The data were analyzed numerically in the time and in the frequency domain, and the results presented the ability of the technique to monitor the action of the drug, particularly Colcemid (0.4  μg/mL).

Characterization of a New Human Cell Line (CH-3573) Derived from a Grade II Chondrosarcoma with Matrix Production

Chondrosarcomas are malignant cartilage-forming tumors that represent the third most common malignant solid tumor of bone. In patients with grades II and III, local recurrence, increasing tumor size and dedifferentiation have been associated with lower survival rates. These biologically poorly-understood neoplasms vary considerably in clinical presentation and biological behavior. Cytogenetic studies have shown that heterogeneity is related to karyotypic complexity; moreover, alterations in the 9p21 locus and TP53 gene are related to disease progression. Despite the relatively high frequency of chondrosarcoma only a limited number of cell lines exist in the scientific community, limiting the possibility to study hypothesis-derived research or primary drug interaction necessary for pre-clinical studies. We report a chondrosarcoma cell line, CH-3573, derived from a primary tumor that may serve as a useful tool for both in vitro and in vivo models to study the molecular pathogenesis. In addition, xenograft passages in nude mice were studied to characterize the genetic stability over the course of tumor progression. In contrary to other reported cell lines, an important feature of our established cell line was the retained matrix production, a characteristic feature of a conventional grade II chondrosarcoma. The cell line (CH-3573) was characterized by pathological, immunohistochemical and molecular genetic methods.

BRAF V600E Mutation in Two Distinct Meningeal Melanocytomas Associated With a Nevus of Ota

Introduction Meningeal melanocytomas are rare tumors of the CNS that develop from melanocytes that are present in leptomeninges, with differing pigmented appearance. They generally occur in the posterior fossa and the spinal cord. This lesion may manifest at any age, but most patients are in the fifth decade of life. Occasionally, these tumors appear in a complex neurocutaneous grouping with other melanocytic lesions. The nevus of Ota (oculodermal melanocytosis) is a blue hyperpigmented dermal lesion that affects the trigeminal dermatome. The association of a meningeal melanocytoma with an ipsilateral nevus of Ota is extremely rare; to our knowledge, only eight cases have been reported in the literature to date. In these cases, the melanocytomas were located in the supratentorial area. We present a patient with neurocutaneous melanosis showing a highly pigmented meningeal melanocytoma and a less pigmented meningeal melanocytoma in association with a meningeal melanocytosis and a congenital nevus of Ota. We have analyzed the histopathologic and molecular characteristics of these lesions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of melanocytomas with mutations in BRAF, PTEN, and NF2, genes that are involved in the melanomagenesis process.

Gene expression profiles of metabolic aggressiveness and tumor recurrence in benign meningioma.

Around 20% of meningiomas histologically benign may be clinically aggressive and recur. This strongly affects management of meningioma patients. There is a need to evaluate the potential aggressiveness of an individual meningioma. Additional criteria for better classification of meningiomas will improve clinical decisions as well as patient follow up strategy after surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between gene expression profiles and new metabolic subgroups of benign meningioma with potential clinical relevance. Forty benign and fourteen atypical meningioma tissue samples were included in the study. We obtained metabolic profiles by NMR and recurrence after surgery information for all of them. We measured gene expression by oligonucleotide microarray measurements on 19 of them. To our knowledge, this is the first time that distinct gene expression profiles are reported for benign meningioma molecular subgroups with clinical correlation. Our results show that metabolic aggressiveness in otherwise histological benign meningioma proceeds mostly through alterations in the expression of genes involved in the regulation of transcription, mainly the LMO3 gene. Genes involved in tumor metabolism, like IGF1R, are also differentially expressed in those meningioma subgroups with higher rates of membrane turnover, higher energy demand and increased resistance to apoptosis. These new subgroups of benign meningiomas exhibit different rates of recurrence. This work shows that benign meningioma with metabolic aggressiveness constitute a subgroup of potentially recurrent tumors in which alterations in genes regulating critical features of aggressiveness, like increased angiogenesis or cell invasion, are still no predominant. The determination of these gene expression biosignatures may allow the early detection of clinically aggressive tumors.

Análisis de la percepción del alumnado ante la metodología de trabajar en grupos tutorizados

Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la opinion y perspectiva que tiene el alumnado ante la metodologia de trabajar en grupos tutorizados. Esta metodologia adoptada en el proceso de ensenanza-aprendizaje es importante para el desarrollo de competencias. La capacidad de trabajo en equipo y la capacidad para comunicarse son competencias transversales muy significativas y que tienen un gran impacto o potencial en el aprendizaje del alumno. Se presenta en este trabajo un analisis de las valoraciones del alumnado recogidas mediante opiniones anonimas despues de la elaboracion de un trabajo tutorizado realizado en grupo en el Grado de Medicina de la Universitat de Valencia durante los cursos 2015-2016 y 2016-2017. Es fundamental tener en cuenta la opinion del alumnado para adoptar medidas de mejora docente, corregir o modificar la metodologia y resolver situaciones surgidas en el entorno real de aprendizaje. Nuestra conclusion es que la perspectiva del alumnado es muy positiva que les gusta la metodologia de trabajar en grupos tutorizados. Palabras clave: Trabajo en equipo, grupo tutorizado, competencias, educacion universitaria

Experiencia de gamificación en Docencia Universitaria: aprendizaje activo y entretenido

El objetivo fundamental del presente trabajo es describir la experiencia desarrollada en docencia universitaria usando la gamificacion como herramienta docente. El termino de gamificacion se utiliza para referirnos a la aplicacion de mecanicas de juego en ambitos que normalmente no son ludicos.Nuestra hipotesis de trabajo se basa en que el juego puede ser una nueva metodologia que favorezca el asentamiento e interiorizacion de los conceptos impartidos haciendo que el proceso de aprendizaje sea activo y que integren y relacionen contenidos de un modo atractivo y motivante para el alumnado. Con el fin de valorar la experiencia del alumnado distribuimos una encuesta anonima y analizamos sus respuestas. Nuestra conclusion es que la gamificacion tiene una buena acogida y consigue aumentar el grado de atencion y de consolidacion de conocimientos.

Gamificación en la universidad: una experiencia basada en el “bring your own device” en educación superior

El desarrollo tecnologico ofrece infinidad de nuevas posibilidades para mejorar la calidad de la docencia. Bajo la continua tarea como docentes de motivar y ensenar a aprender a los alumnos, presentamos los resultados de una sesion que consto de dos actividades grupales gamificadas (formato concurso) y una individual de autoevaluacion, fundamentadas en el uso de sus propios dipositivos electronicos (bring your own device). Supuso una experiencia enriquecedora, divertida y practica para el abordaje de la asignatura, y nos proporciono un interesante “feedback” para continuar implementando las nuevas tecnologias en la universidad.